Online Newspapers, Live TV Channels, Radios

The mass media activities in Rwanda are under the supervision of the government. The media outlets are unable to express their ideas and thoughts freely. They need to be careful about the expression of their thoughts and ideas. Besides, the media outlets are also subject to censorship. The government body that cares about the media outlets always supervise the media activities so that they cannot create any unwanted situations in the country.

In fact, the media outlets are the sources of information for the audience. They get their desired news and information from the media. So, the media outlets play an influential role in disseminating news and other necessary information to the public. The general people eagerly wait for the media outlets to know about the very recent happenings of home and abroad. The independent government body is responsible for the regulation of the media activities.

The media outlets are mostly dominated by the state-run outlets. Both the television and print outlets are dominated by the state-run channels and publications. But they try to provide the accurate news and information to the audience. As a result, they have gained popularity among the ordinary people. In fact, the state-run television channel has the largest group of audience in the country despite the private television channels. They cater the needs of the people by providing a wide range of news and television shows.

But radio is the key source of information to some of the local people. Actually, the mainstream media outlets are not available everywhere in the country and in those places, radio is the primary source of information for the people. And the history of radio operation is older than the other types of media outlets in Rwanda.

The issue of media censorship is a great concern for the country’s press. The media outlets need to remain always aware of the matter that they should not expose something that may make some undesired situations for them. the journalists, earlier, were subject to different types of harassments and violence. But in the present days, they are now not experiencing the violence and threats for two reasons. Firstly, some of them have left the country and secondly, they follow a sense of self-censorship. So, the number of such unwanted incidents is lower now than any other times.

The readership of newspapers is not so adorable for some reasons. The topmost reason behind the poor readership is the illiteracy rate. The rate of literacy has dropped in the country and this is the key reason for people’s reluctance to print media. They love to listen to radio or watch television more than the other things.

The number of newspapers in the country is around 19. And those are published in different languages including Kinyarwanda, French, and English. Some other regional newspapers are also available and those are published in some regional dialects. The newspapers mostly provide with the generalized information to the readers. They also maintain a sense of self-censorship.

The state-run television is the most popular TV channeled in the country and comes with three different languages. The television channels show various types of shows and events and even daily soaps. As a result, it has a different appeal to the audience. But it also maintains a strict sense of self-censorship. This is in fact, a great source of daily news and information to the audience across the country.

There are four radio stations altogether in Rwanda and they cover the entire nation. The radio programs are interesting and this is a great source of the people to know about the world and their nation. So, the number of listeners is more than the other types of media outlets. The radio stations serve in different languages and a good source of communication for the people indeed.

The use of the internet and online-based media outlets is not so prevalent. There are some people who have their access to the internet and they frequently use it for their social communication and knowing the happenings of the world.